Does Neuropathic Pain Affect the Quality of Sleep?

We aimed to evaluate the quality of sleep (QoS) in patients with neuropathic pain (NP) and to investigate the association between possible QoS impairment and NP characteristics.

Patients with NP and controls were examined. Age, sex, NP duration, NP cause (central, peripheral, or mixed), and pain intensity (with a Likert-type scale and visual analog scale) were recorded. NP was screened with Douleur Neuropathique 4 questions (DN4), and QoS was evaluated using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Mann-Whitney U test and regression analysis were performed to evaluate the data.

Seventy patients with NP and 30 age- and sex-matched controls were included. The mean age of the patients and controls were 45.04±10.21 years and 39.00±19.23 years, respectively. Significantly higher scores of sleep latency (p=0.002), sleep duration (p=0.003), sleep efficiency (p=0.002), sleep disturbance (p<0.000), daytime dysfunction (p=0.04), and PSQI total were observed in patients with NP than in controls (p<0.000). In addition, 80% of patients with NP and 37 % of controls were classified as having poor QoS (p<0.000). Female sex, pain intensity, and NP duration were found to be factors related to having poor QoS in patients with NP (p=0.026, p=0.006, and p<0.000, respectively).

In our study, 80% of patients with NP had poor QoS regardless of the NP cause. Female sex, pain severity, and NP duration were found to be factors correlated with poor QoS. Treatment strategies that target not only NP itself but also better QoS may contribute to the overall success of management.